My abandoned house is a new series presented on Vrai composed of 8 30-minute episodes, where the actress Sophie Bourgeois takes us on the adventure of this crazy project: renovating an abandoned house, on the edge of a pond, in the Laurentians.
We follow her through all the stages of this re-construction which has its share of surprises, unforeseen events and moments of discouragement. “There were a lot of challenges and a lot of good people in carrying out this project,” confides Sophie Bourgeois in an interview, who considers herself a true renovation enthusiast. “I’m an action girl, I’m unhappy waiting at home for the phone to ring as an actress, I’m too much of a manager! With this series, I wanted to be transparent, to show that renovating is not easy, that it takes nerves of steel, especially as a woman. »
She explains that the first big challenge of the abandoned house was that it was contaminated and that a decision had to be made: to renovate it or to destroy it? “I found a solution, tore it down myself and recycled everything so it wouldn’t end up in landfills. We recovered everything and we rebuilt, even though everything increased by 30%, the price of houses and materials. » The other difficulty she faced: finding a reliable contractor. “You can no longer tell me anything with the experience that I have accumulated over the years, I have renovated a duplex, three chalets, a house in Montreal, and I have built two houses from the earth,” she said.
I worked with a great team, reliable people, a new generation of men who have a lot of respect for women, young men who arrive with green smoothies and who no longer have cigarettes around the corner. mouth… We are really somewhere else and that’s so much the better!
Sophie Bourgeois
She dreams of ecological houses, green roofs, building and decorating with 100% Quebec purchases. “With a tight budget, it’s sometimes difficult… I had to mourn the loss of a German home, which was very aesthetic, but it’s not part of my values to buy a product that arrived from abroad by boat, I gave up… I also dreamed of this house being autonomous, disconnected from Hydro-Québec… But that’s not possible! », she exclaims. “Maybe the next house, because yes, I will make another one, I know, because I want to build differently, without having to excavate and dynamite the ground… I will find it, to be continued! »
My abandoned house is featured on True